Manga Review: Saikyou no Kurokishi♂, Sentou Maid♀ ni Tenshoku shimashita
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| Here is the main character, Maria, looking cute and cool |
Saikyou no Kurokishi♂, Sentou Maid♀ ni Tenshoku shimashita
Manga Adaptation by: Kazahana Chiruwo
Original Writer: Momokado Isshin
Japanese name: 最強の黒騎士♂、戦闘メイド♀に転職しました
English Translation: From the Strongest Dark Knight ♂, Changed Job into Combat Maid ♀
6 Volumes, Ongoing (Not Licensed in North America)
Original Run 2018 – Current
You do not get second chances in life. The series Saikyou no Kurokishi♂, Sentou Maid♀ ni Tenshoku shimashita (which I will shorten to Saikyou no Kurokishi in future references) is all about second chances. Saikyou no Kurokishi started as a web novel by Kazahana Chiruwo that got popular enough to have a Light Novel adaptation. The light novels got popular enough to get adapted into an immensely popular manga; hopefully, it will get an anime adaptation soon. This manga is much better than it has any right to be. It could have devolved into the standard themes and elements of gender-bending manga, but it stood far above it to give a rich and nuanced storyline. If you can connect to the odd and funny characters of the story, you will find yourself rewarded with an amazingly well-done gender-bending manga.
The story is a simple enough concept, but it is surprisingly effective. Albright is the Black Knight unit commander, the strongest and most violent military unit of the Kingdom of Freya. He dies unexpectedly in battle. Instead of going to the afterlife, Albright gets reborn and reincarnates into a girl, Maria. After several tragic events happen to her, Maria found herself homeless and with no parents. She saves the son of the Marquis of the House of Urband and becomes the maid of the marquis’ daughter. She also does side jobs as the marquis’ combat maid to protect the household and kill the King's enemies in the underworld of Freya. At the age of sixteen, circumstances force her to meet old comrades and commanders in the Black Knight unit, 16 years older. The bulk of the content is Maria learning why she died as Albright and her interactions with her old friends and comrades as a combat maid. There is a fascinating dynamism between how she interacts with people in her current life in the Marquis household and how she interacts with her old friends and colleagues.
As with the original story and concept, the story could have gone in other directions. It could have leaned in hard and just showed the dark adventures of Maria as she kills her master’s enemies. It could also lean hard on the misadventures of Maria as she deals with her colleagues. Instead, we get a slice of life where Maria interacts with her current world and her old world and balances the two. You get to know the former Black Knights through extended flashback sequences to get to learn about their motivations and how they see the world. Instead of Maria being the sole character, she is the leader of an ensemble cast where her interactions with the rest of the cast are the focus. This richness of not just developing Maria but the rest of the cast makes the interactions all the better. There is not much romance between her and her old Black Knight colleagues; many of them moved on with their lives and got married. The few bachelors in the cast like Maria up to the point where it could be romantic if it were not for the fact that Maria has zero interest in dating guys.
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| Maria always gets into trouble |
For the House of the Marquis of Urband, Maria has a great dynamic with the all of them, they are basically her family. Arnold is the Marquis, the head of the household, the bloody Marquis who kills the King’s enemies from the shadows. He bloodies his hands so the King does not have to. He is stoic, caring, and sees all members of his household as family members. Albert is his young son and successor. He loves Maria and has had a crush on her since he was a child, but he recognizes they could not be together due to the difference in social status, so he teases her and guides her. Relena is the innocent young sister of Albert, daughter of the Marquis, and is the girl Maria attends to as her maid. Maria treats her with love and affection as a little sister. Forrest is the head butler and assistant to the Marquis. He demands perfection and the best from the rest of the servants. Mark is the gardener and protects the estate during enemy raids with Maria. He teases her because of her tomboyish nature and her lack of awareness as a girl. The rest of the household are attendants who do jobs for the Marquis (read: they kill his enemies) and double as butlers, maids, cooks, and other necessary jobs. They are all interesting characters who interact with Maria differently.
If the cast was not big enough, you have the former comrades and commanders of the Black Knight unit in the Kingdom of Freya. All of Albright’s pals are still alive, just 16 years older and in higher positions of power and with responsibilities after the Black Knight unit got dissolved. First is Vanlet, Albright’s former aide, but since Albright died, he became a guard of the royal family. He is the same motormouth Maria remembers from her past life; being around him makes her revert to her old ways when she least expects. The commander of the Silver Chivalric Order, Duke Lloyd Faust is a young arrogant child genius who admired Albright, growing into an arrogant adult. As the head of the Silver Chivalric Order, he ropes Maria into doing a lot of jobs in the palace as an excuse to be around her. His second-in-command, Malts, is a pervert who likes getting beat up. Jean is his former assistant and best friend who quickly figures out who Maria is and rekindles their friendship very quickly. Sneak attack Neil is a pervert who plays dead in battle, and his interactions with Albright, and then Maria is always fun to watch. Guido was obsessed with his childhood friend in Albright's time, and then he became a daughter-con in Maria's time. There is a myriad of other funny and interesting former Black Knight unit guys Maria interacts with against her will. Since she does not want to disrupt her current life, she keeps her real identity a secret being around her former comrades and colleagues, but she is such a strong character that they all suspect something about her.
Maria is the star of the show and the big draw of the series. In her former life as Albright, he was incredibly likable, honest, and charismatic. Therefore, he commanded an entire unit of the army, all his subordinates adored him and loved him, and even became best friends with the King. In her current life, she remembers everything in her past as Albright, but she balances what she knows from the past with how she is as Maria the combat maid. Her bursts of anger and the times when she lets her guard down give her former Black Knight unit comrades a lot of nostalgia, but they also remember that the person doing the actions is a cute, 16-year-old maid. To the former Black Knights, she reminds them of their old commander, but as she is, she is also just a cute tomboy.
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| Maria is terrifying when she gets mad |
The art of the manga is great, with a large ensemble cast of males and females, they all have a distinctive look that you can tell everyone apart. Maria is adorable, with the huge ribbon accenting her cuteness. The backgrounds get the point across for the world. The manga is still going, but the consistency of the art is amazing.
Overall, Saikyou no Kuroshiki is a superb manga. The storyline is exceptionally good and well-paced. Maria is an incredibly likable character, and her interactions with the rest of the cast are genuinely funny and heartfelt. The ensemble cast is also well-developed, and they all interact with Maria in fun and interesting ways. If you like gender-bending, you cannot miss this manga; it is excellent in every single way. If you do not like gender-bending, you will still find this manga to be worthy of your time because it is equal parts tragic and funny; it does not rely on the same trappings, themes, and archetypes as other gender-bender series so it does not feel formulaic and stale. Saikyou no Kuroshiki is just an overall excellent experience that you should not miss.
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